Hung King Festival

From 2007, Vietnamese government decided to have a public holiday in Vietnam to celebrate the Hung kings called Giỗ Tổ Hùng Vương (Hung King Festival) in Hùng temple. Hung Kings temple is located on Nghia Linh Mountain, Hy Lang Commune, Phong Chau Dist., Phu Tho Province. It will be on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month of each year, which in 2010 will be 23 April.

This festival is very important to Vietnamese people. Every year, this national festival is held to worship the Hung Kings, who were instrumental in founding the nation. The festival usually lasts for 3 days from the 9th to the 11th of the 3rd Lunar month. The worship service is held on the 10th day and commences with a flower ceremony with the participation of state representatives. The main festival is held in Upper Temple (Den Thuong) of Phu Tho province, where the Hung Kings used to worship deities with full rituals, the ceremony consists of a lavish five-fruit feast. Cakes and glutinous rice dumpling are also served to remind people of the Lang Lieu Legend (the 18th Hung King who invented these cakes), and the merit of the Hung Kings who taught people to grow rice. This festival is also organized in many other provinces of Vietnam.

Hùng Vương (English: 'Hùng King') is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Vietnamese rulers of the Hồng Bàng period. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Vietnam. They were kings of Văn Lang (as Vietnam was known at the time) of the Lạc Việt.

Legend tells of the dragon lord, Lạc Long Quân and the mountain fairy, Âu Cơ who had 100 children. As the parents belonged to different realms, they parted ways, each taking 50 of the 100 sons to their respective homes. The eldest went to live by the coast, domain of dragons.

The eldest came to power in 2897 BC and took the title Hùng Vương, ruling an area covering what is now North Vietnam and part of southern China. He founded the Hồng Bàng Dynasty, which ruled Vietnam until 258 BC. His dynasty existed in Vietnamese prehistory, but much of the lore from this time is now lost to the ages. His sons were always named after him and many stories include either him or another of his offsprings. Stories tell of the heroics of eighteen different Hùng Vươngs (one explains the introduction of the watermelon with the help of Hùng Vương X) but fail to account for the numerous unknown rulers of Vietnam during their two millennia of sovereignty.

The Hồng Bàng Dynasty was overthrown by An Dương Vương, but his regime fell to Triệu Đà, and later to the Han Empire thus beginning millennia of Chinese domination.

It is likely that the name Hùng Vương is a combination of the two Vietnamese words Hùng, which means "brave" and Vương, which means "king". The name Hùng Vương might have been a title bestowed on a chieftain. The Hùng Vương would have been the head chieftain of Văn Lang which at the time was composed of feudal communities of rice farmers (similar to the way the Holy Roman Emperor was elected to rule by fellow German princes).



(Source: Wikipedia & Youtube)